Europe 2007:

Yes another trip abroad. This time no class, but of
course there was glass. This was a very special trip, as it was with
my mom who had never been further east then the Mississippi River, and she
had only been that far when she was a very small girl some 55+ years ago.

London:

I am a planner and had our whole trip mapped out to the
minute. Mom couldn't get off work as long as I could so I went to
London to stay with a very special friend. Francesca Cerreta of
Sirio Designs - www.Siriodesigns.com.
Francesca was so
sweet to invite me to stay with her and her wonderful family, Martin, her
husband, their two sons Lorenzo & Tancedi, plus Maricel
the nanny. Francesca is Italian, Martin is English, and Maricel
is Pilipino, so it is a very international house indeed. The
hospitality that was extended to me was no less then any five star hotel.

Transportation is so simple in
London, trains and the underground get you most places and the underground
is just as easy as punch. Even being there during the underground strike
it wasn't super bad as long as you knew where to go. The English are
so helpful and everyone that I meet was more then willing to help out a
stranger. The food is great and the sights are like none other, being
a history buff I wanted to see all the sights I could. Gardens are
another love of mine, so Kew Gardens was a must. Here are a few
pictures from London and Kew.

Stone on Westminster

Greenwich, London

Kew Gardens

Tower Bridge

Giant Water Lilies

Kew Garden

Ruined Arch, Kew Garden

Pond in Kew Garden

Kew Garden

Westminster

Big Ben

Brussels - I took the EuroStar (train) from London to Brussels.
I spent the day wandering the city and seeing some of the historical
sites. The pulpit pictured below is all hand carved oak, and depicts
Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden. That evening I went to what is said
to be the best restaurant in all of Belgium, for a seven course French
dinner. It was wonderful and worth every penny.
Comme Chez Soi,
I recommend it highly and reservations are needed well in
advance. I picked up my mother the next morning and gave her a
brief recap of my tour the day before, which of course included a
chocolate shop.

Oak Pulpit

Brussel's Street

Grand Place

Comme Chez Soi

France - After our whirlwind tour of Brussels we we drove
though the Belgium and French countryside purposely staying off
freeways on our way to Sars-Poteries, France, which is about an hour and a
half south of Brussels and about two hours northeast of Paris.

Sars-Poteries is a tiny little French village with a
population of just under 1,600 and it is home to both a
Glass School and Glass Musee.
The Musee hosted the exhibit "Bulles de Perles" from July 2007 through
October 2007. This was the reason for my journey as I was
honored to be selected as an exhibitor at this showing. My piece
is pictured below along with some other pieces from the exhibit. The
exhibit was highlighted by the "La Journee de la Perle de Verre". This
is a Bi-Annual event that consists of one day of demos and another day with
both demos and a bead show. It is my hope to return to this event in
2009 with some of my friends from the states. On the first day there
was also a reception at the Musee, to celebrate the contributions of the 65
international artist that were being shown. It was a lovely event with
very cool food a drinks, the French know how to throw a party. After
the reception was a banquet that was in another small town not to far away,
but it was a journey literal through the woods and farmers fields.
Everyone treated my mom and I like royalty and it was defiantly a night to
remember. Thank you to all that made it possible. The evening
was extra special because I was able to met for the first time, a long time
email friend,
PEtra Janssen
and her husband Bernd, I can't wait to get back over to spend more time with
them, they are both just a HOOT!

We had to leave Sars-Poteries fairly early the next morning
as we had 4 full days planned in Giverny and Paris. So we said our
good bye to our old and new friends while they were setting up for the
bead show.

Laon, France - My maternal grandfather fought in WWI,
and spent his duty in the areas between Paris and Sar-Poteries. We are
not sure exactly where he was in these areas, but our drive from Sar-Poteries
took us through the small township of Laon. Laon was a strategic
position in many of the wars in France including both of the World Wars, as it is perched high on a hill. Laon
has the one of if not the oldest surviving Gothic church in all of France.
It was a Sunday when we were there, so we didn't get to go into the
Cathedral. But the exterior was very special, especially the goats on
the bell towers. We had to climb a million stairs to get to the center
of the village but it was well worth it. Even though my grandfather
died five years before I was born, I felt a strange connection to him while
I was visiting this very beautiful place. Maybe he was here some 90
years before us, but I am sure he did not enjoy it as much as I did.

If you are into WWI or WWII history this is a great drive to
take you through the heart of some of where it happened. Of course the
drive long the French coast is also one that would be a must, and I plan on
getting to Normandy the next trip.

The view from the top of Laon

The Abby

Laon Cathedral

Village Center

OOPs someone go down the hill to fast

Bell Towers

Giverny, France. After a very short stay in Laon
we drove off for Giverny, the home of Monet. I fell in love with
the beauty of the garden's in this very small village, and can see why
Monet spent his final years here. Here are just a tiny selection
of the photos I took in both Monet's Garden and the Musee de Art
Americain Garden. It truly is an artists dream.

My Mom!!!

Paris, France. Famous museums, great food, spectacular shopping,
history abound and the perfect place to end a vacation. We
walked the streets of the city for two and a half days (14 miles of
walking), and saw
everything we possible could squeeze in. From Sacré-Cœur
Basilica, L'église Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, Notre Dame de Paris,
Musée d'Orsay, Palais du Louvre, Opera Garnier, Palais & Jardin Royal,
Jardin de Tuileries, Île de la Cité, Tour Eiffel to a river cruise on the
Seine, we saw those and much more. The special treat of our stay
was a beautiful lunch at a top Paris restaurant (actually at the time
one of the top 68 in the world) in the Palais Royal on the Jardin
(garden).
La Grand-Vefour. This
wonderful restaurant has served the likes of Louis XV, Napoleon and
his wife Josephine, as well as writers Victor Hugo, Jean-Paul Sartre,
Simone de Beauvoir, Colette and Andre Malraux. The history in
the small rooms of this establishment is vast and just sitting in such
a place eating an outstanding meal was truly a joy for both my mother
and I. Our last morning we had breakfast sitting in the
Trileries Jardin just after sunrise, it was a prefect morning, and
made for a lasting memory of our last hours in Paris.

Sacré-Cœur Basilica

Eiffle Tower from Sacré-Cœur

Opera Garnier

The Alter at L'église Sainte-Marie-Madeleine

West Bank- Latin District

Notre Dame de Paris

and the view from both

the roof

and

the bell level

Hôtel de Ville

A typical window in Paris

Onyx & Bronze in Musée d'Orsay

The view from the Eiffel Tower

Jardin de Palais Royal

Palais du Louvre & Jardin de Tuileries,

Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel

I. M. Pei - Louvre Pyramid

So that brings me to the end of our journey. I
hope you enjoyed a sampling of this wonderful trip, and I know you are
glad I didn't post all two thousand pictures.